As high-profile players leave, Lincoln Riley’s USC recruiting challenges grow
Almost two years to the day, his signing had been celebrated as USC’s first major recruiting victory of the Lincoln Riley era. Domani Jackson was, after all, the top prospect in California, a cornerback coveted across college football. His commitment, just three weeks after Riley’s arrival at USC, was seen then as an early referendum — a sign of what the coach could soon accomplish once he found his foothold on the recruiting trail.
But by Monday, two full recruiting cycles later, the spoils of several early recruiting wins for Riley had lost much of their luster. In the two weeks since the transfer portal opened, USC has already lost its one-time heir apparent at quarterback, former five-star Malachi Nelson, as well as a five-star running back in Raleek Brown, both of whom signed with USC as top-two prospects in the state.
Jackson became the latest touted domino to fall this week, as the former Santa Ana Mater Dei star is expected to enter the NCAA transfer portal, according to a person familiar with the decision not authorized to speak on the matter. His departure means the Trojans have lost three of their five highest-rated prospects from Riley’s first two recruiting cycles at USC.
A look at all the players who are transferring in and out of UCLA and USC in the NCAA transfer portal ahead of the 2024 college football season.
He’s not the only celebrated prospect to leave USC’s defense this week. Linebacker Tackett Curtis, who started as a freshman and was viewed as a future leader at the position, also plans to enter the portal, according to a person familiar with his decision, leaving USC without two players once seen as foundational pieces of its defense.
Their departures not only raise questions about USC’s plans but also the process of team-building in the transfer portal era, in general.
“Look, we’re at a really unique place right now,” Riley said Monday. “We’re having obviously not just one small change on the defensive staff, but a pretty large change, and then we’re kind of caught in this period where transfer portal and NIL have even gone up a level in terms of the craziness and the impact on it more than ever before.
“So my energy goes into the people that are here. No bad blood, no ill will to anybody that’s not. But we’re going to move on with those that are dying to be USC Trojans, because at the end of the day, that’s the only way the history here turns around.”
With the transfer portal, those turnarounds have grown more complicated, as coaches now juggle NIL and the potential of the transfer portal as part of their annual plans, along with the usual factors, such as ego and expectations.
That’s especially complex at the quarterback position, where prospects rarely hang around waiting for an opportunity.
Riley lamented Monday what that free movement in the transfer market meant for quarterback development — “all the moving around and all that, you don’t love it,” he said — while also acknowledging that it “probably in some ways advantages [USC] over other people.”
“So many people try to project out what they think is going to happen down the line, and they think you gotta have all the answers right at the beginning,” Riley said. “And the reality is, it’s competition, and you never know. It’s fluid, and you never know what’s going to happen, and that’s just kind of part of the position.”
No one would’ve expected a year ago that Nelson, the highest-rated quarterback to sign with USC since 2009, would last just one year with Riley. But USC had already turned its attention to another transfer quarterback, Kansas State’s Will Howard, who visited campus last week.
Whatever Howard is planning won’t impact the immediate plans of USC’s current starting quarterback. Miller Moss, a former four-star recruit who spent the past three seasons as a backup, said Monday he had no intention of chasing a new opportunity in the portal. Though, he didn’t begrudge anyone who did.
Quarterback Malachi Nelson, who at one time was seen by some to be the heir apparent to Caleb Williams at USC, intends to enter the transfer portal.
“I think for me, anything that’s worthwhile, that you’re going to have to go get, that is difficult to go get ... it has to be earned,” Moss said. “And if you turn and run or whatever it is at the first sign of adversity, you’re never going to grow as a football player and as a human being as a whole, so that’s kind of been my approach.”
Thirteen players have already left USC, while the Trojans have added four, three of whom they’re hoping will be impact players on defense.
Easton Mascarenas-Arnold appears to be the prize of that group. The former Oregon State inside linebacker was named to the All-Pac-12 first team this season after finishing second in the conference in tackles. He’ll also bring along his brother, former Oregon State safety Akili Arnold, who pledged his commitment to the Trojans a day later.
The focus remains on beefing up that side of the ball ahead of USC’s move to the Big Ten.
Riley spent much of the last two weeks on the road with defensive recruits and possible portal targets, as he and his new defensive hires — defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn, secondary coach Doug Belk and linebackers coach Matt Entz — have set about rebuilding the team’s defense.
He has rebuilt in a hurry before. But in setting plans this time, Riley said he was looking for players who “have a mind to be developed and have a good sense of reality.”
“You have to have people who are willing to hang in there and go through what it really takes to develop and become a really good player at this level,” Riley said.
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